World’s foremost thinkers on Industrial Electronics head to Melbourne

More than 800 of the world’s foremost thinkers on industrial electronics will descend on Melbourne next week for the 37th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IECON 2011), to be held at the Crown Conference Centre from 7-10 November, 2011.

The Conference, which was secured for Melbourne by the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau, has attracted delegates and more than 1,100 papers from the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North America and Latin America, with topics for discussion to include future challenges in energy and the latest technology in electronic and hybrid vehicles.

Professor Xinghuo Yu, Director of RMIT University’s Platform Technologies Research Institute, who will chair the Conference, said it would take on a truly global perspective.

“IECON 2011 offers the world’s industry, researchers and academia access to the latest research and developments in the key areas relating to industrial technology applications,” Professor Yu said.

“These include mechatronics and robotics, factory automation, control systems and applications, power generation, transmission and distribution, industrial information and communication technologies, and intelligent systems integration.

“Conference participants will also have the opportunity to meet the industry’s leading thinkers and forge international collaborations and friendships.”

Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Chancellor of RMIT University, is one of four keynote speakers and will discuss the future challenges in energy, technology and innovation.

“Dr Switkowski’s presentation will specifically canvas the technology challenges ahead, the breakthroughs that may emerge, the role of government policies, and the leadership demanded of our technologists and research institutions when it comes to energy,” Professor Yu said.

Dr Switkowski will be joined by fellow Australian, Professor Graham Goodwin from the University of Newcastle, who will discuss applications and reflections of finite alphabet control.

The final two keynote speakers will be Professor Tian-You Chai of Northeastern University of China, who will present on hybrid intelligence optimal control for operation of complex industrial processes, and Professor Thomas A Lipo from the University of Wisconsin, USA, who will discuss field weakening methods for permanent magnet machines.

Another highlight of the Conference will be the Industry Forum which will run on Tuesday, 8 and Wednesday, 9 November, chaired by Dr Michael Condry of Intel. Condry will also present on security issues in Cloud controlled environments.

Other speakers throughout the Forum include Dr Alex Zelinsky from the CSIRO who will discuss enabling technologies for driving solutions to grand challenges in science, John Nachef from Cisco on Smart Grid in the energy sector, and Dr. Mike Rowand from Duke Energy on electric vehicle ecosystem challenges for utilities.